雁鴨科yàn-yā kē

ガンカモ科gan-kamo ka

오리과ori-gwa

Họ Vịt

Нугасныханnugasnikhaŋ

General

Information is from dictionaries and other sources. Pinyin reflects Mandarin pronunciation; for some dialect names, it is no more than a polite fiction. Korean glosses are tentative. Comments and corrections welcome. Hover over Green LetteringGreen lettering at this site hides a tool tip with glosses, further explanations, etc. Hover cursor to reveal. to see additional information.

The geese, swans, and ducks are familiar and distinctive birds that have provided the source of two types of domesticated fowl in Asian countries. A variety of local and dialect terms exists for the most common members of this family, especially the geese and ducks. The most familiar names tend to be those of domestic birds.

The Chinese term for 'duck' is 鸭 yā. In the ordinary spoken language this is normally 鸭子 yāzi in isolation, 鸭 yā in combination. Ducks in the wild are known as 野鸭yě-yā (colloquially 野鸭子yě yāzi or 野鸭儿yě-yār), or 水鸭shuǐ-yā'water duck'. A more literary term is 凫fú. These names are sometimes applied narrowly to the Mallard or 绿头鸭lǜ-tóu yā'green-headed duck', which was the wild ancestor of the domestic duck. Domestic ducks are known as 鸭子yāzi'duck' or 家鸭jiā-yā'domestic duck'. 骛wù is a more formal or literary term for the domesticated duck. China also appears to raise a domesticated variety of Tadorna, 麻鸭 má-yā'hemp duck'.

Geese in the wild are known as 雁yàn'wildgoose'. The Swan Goose has its own name, 鸿hóng or 鸿雁hóng-yàn, and is the ancestor of the domesticated goose in China (in the West it was the Greylag Goose). Domesticated geese are known by the totally separate name of 鹅é or 家鹅jiā-é'domestic goose'.

The swans are known in Chinese as 天鹅tiān-é, meaning 'sky goose' or 'heaven goose'. A more ancient name, now considered literary, is 鹄hú.

The Mandarin duck Aix galericulata has long had a special place in Chinese culture as a conventional symbol of marital devotion, and is known as 鸳鸯yuān-yang. This name, along with the conventional symbolism, has been borrowed into both Japanese and Vietnamese.

Ornithological naming

Chinese has partially systematised the names of anatid genera, as follows:

Interestingly, the Mainland and Taiwanese names are at cross-purposes in assigning the names 鸭yā and 凫fú.

The name of the mergansers appears to be of Japanese origin. The Japanese name, 秋沙aisa, is a mixture of kun and on readings, suggesting that it is a phonetic usage (ateji) -- characters chosen to represent the pronunciation of a native word. Tellingly, 秋 is read ai instead of the standard aki. Chinese has borrowed the written form, pronouncing it qiūshā.

CULTURAL

During the Ming and Qing Dynasties in China, two members of the Anatidae were depicted in 'Mandarin Squares' (known as 补子bǔzi) attached to official uniforms of high-ranking bureaucrats. They were:

The Wild Goose (雁yàn or 云雁yún-yàn), insignia of rank for Grade Four of civilian official.
The Mandarin Duck, insignia of rank for Grade Seven of civilian official.
The bird referred to is the 鸂鶒xīchì, said to be similar to the Mandarin duck but somewhat larger and with more purple in its plumage. This bird does not appear to have been identified by modern ornithologists.

In Chinese culture, as well as East Asian cultures influenced by it, the Mandarin duck Aix galericulata is a symbol of marital devotion due to its occurrence in mating pairs.

Chinese has the expression 癞蛤蟆想吃天鹅肉lài-háma xiǎng chī tiān'é-ròu'A toad wants to eat swan meat', referring to a person lusting after something that he is not worthy of or is out of his class.

白额鹅(白額鵝)bái-é é'white-foreheaded goose'草鹅(草鵝)cǎo-é'grass goose'大雁(大雁)dà-yàn'large wildgoose'(general name, also used for other types of goose)(FS)花斑(花斑)huā-bān'flowery-stripe'(FS)明斑(明斑)míng-bān'bright-stripe'(Honghu, Hubei)(FS)

Шанхатshaŋkhat is a term related to hair. Dictionary definitions range from 'topknot', 'wig' to the hair over a woman's forehead that is often tied into two strands to hang over the temple. The relationship to the Bean Goose is not totally clear.

Possibly related to манханmaŋkhaŋ, which refers to a white patch on the head or a white blaze on a horse's forehead.

In dictionaries, this word has at least two variant forms, шовгорshovgor and шовхгорshovkhgor, not to mention a type of dog with a pointed nose called шовшгорshovshgor. The form шовтгорshovtgor appears to be mostly found in bird lists. The traditional spelling used here is that given in the large 5-volume Mongolian dictionary, шовгорshovgor.

The term хотгуужинkhotguujiŋ is not found in Mongolian dictionaries. It is most likely from the Inner Mongolian word ходгочинkhodogchiŋ 'clown', which is a calque on the Chinese name 丑鸭chǒu-yā 'clown duck'. Since ходгочинkhotogchiŋ is an unfamiliar word to Mongolians, it has possibly been modified to its current form in an attempt to convey some kind of meaning (e.g., хотkhot = 'mane, skirt, stomach', гуужихguujikh 'to moult', thus 'mane moulter'.

The word Чөрхchörkh has been pressed into service in ornithological Mongolian for the genus Histrionicus. It has the literal meaning 'cow's nose ring' and is not found in dictionaries with the meaning 'duck'.

The word дөрdör refers to a cow's nosering. This is possibly related to the peculiar shape of the bill.

The word буйлbuil refers to a camel's wooden nosepeg. This is highly suggestive of a link with the Mongolian name, Дөрт нугасdört nugas 'cow's nosering', which may be related to the peculiar shape of the bill. However, the word also means 'gums (of teeth)' or the part of a blade near the handle. As such, it quite possibly refers to the characteristic swelling near the base of the bill of the Velvet Scoter.

From the original collocation of Бохио нугасbokhio nugas 'untidy / clumsy / dirty duck', бохиоbokhio can now by itself be used to mean 'merganser, goosander'.

As a subspecies of A. poecilorhyncha, A. p. zonorhyncha is known by the Japanese name カルガモ karu-gamo (軽鴨) 'light-wildduck' (Wikipedia).

Apart from A. zonorhyncha, which now has species status, other subspecies of A. poecilorhyncha are: A. p. haringtoni, known in Japanese as ビルマカルガモ biruma karu-gamo (ビルマ軽鴨) 'Burmese light-wildduck', and A. p. poecilorhyncha, known in Japanese as アカボシカルガモ aka-boshi karu-gamo (赤星軽鴨) 'red-starred light-wildduck' (Wikipedia).

As a subspecies ofA. poecilorhyncha, A. p. zonorhyncha is known in Chinese as 普通亚种pǔtōng yàzhǒng 'common subspecies' (Cheng 2000).

The subspecies A. p. haringtoni is known in Chinese as 云南亚种yúnnán yàzhǒng 'Yunnan subspecies' (Cheng 2000).